Is it really over?

I can't believe it's all over. The month and a half of decorations, and lights, and parties, and shopping, and sugary treats... DONE. Every year Christmas comes and goes faster than you can say "I just yacked up all that egg nog". Before you know it, we'll be watching the 4th of July Fireworks at the Oakley Rodeo. Time flies... especially Christmas Time.

Here are a few scrapbook pages, hopefully capturing SOME of the BLUR that Christmas Morning was...
I'm always amazed that we make such a HUGE ordeal...
spend so much time and money and thought...just to make an HOUR of a certain cold,
wintery morning in December memorable for our kids... and for us as parents, too.
What's even more amazing... it ALWAYS is memorable.
I love Christmas... I'm sad to see it leave. But I know it'll be here again soon enough.

Quote of the week...

We hear this from Porter quite a lot these days...

I'm sure you can translate it for yourself.

Today's the day!

In case we don't see you...

Have a very

I had to laugh...

Spence spent a few hours last night putting together the boys' Christmas presents. And when he was done, he loveingly covered every inch of their new toys with blankets and tarps... careful not to let any part of anything show. I'm sure they'll never suspect what is under there... UNTIL THEY LOOK AT THE TWO GIGANTIC BOXES SITTING OUT IN THE OPEN!!!

Bless your heart, Spence. I sure love you.

What is it about Gingerbread Houses?

What is it about Gingerbread Houses? They are always a total disaster... our cookie tree shattered, there was icing in our hair and up our noses, gummie trees were sticking to the kids' grubby, slobbery hands, we couldn't get Porter to stop EATING the cookies, and colorful candy balls were strune across the entire kitchen. Needless to say, I was totally stressed.

So why do we love them so much?

Spence suprised us with this Gingerbread House the other day... just a kit from Costco. It's totally ugly... the tree has been glued over and over again, the icicles fell off and a lot of the candy has been sucked on. It is in no way appetizing to look at... but I LOVE it.

I can only think of 1 reason why. Taking a night off from cleaning, from shopping, from present wrapping, from TV, from everything just to be together.

Even if it was a disaster, it was totally worth every messy, slobbery stressful second.

Thank you Spence for our new family Christmas Tradition. I can't wait to start planning our 2009 Gingerbread House!
If you have any stressful family traditions that you love, I wanna hear about 'em! Please share.

Quote of the week...

When I told Jack he was grounded from friends, he said... He thinks I'm so dumb!

Look who we saw today...

Yup... the big man. We're pretty sure this one's the REAL deal.

Jack asked for a SOCK MONKEY this year and Porter...well...

Porter just spoke his Chinese BLAH BLAH to Santa...

I'm sure St Nick will know exactly what he meant.

Quote of the week...

He's talking about SNEEZING... When I sneeze, no one says "SNEEZE YOU."

Shower for Mandy.

This weekend my sister, Jenny and my mom and I threw a shower for our sister, Mandy. She is expecting a little girl sometime within the next 3 weeks. And since the only girl cousin lives hundreds of miles away... it's kinda a big deal. Jenny and I had so much fun picking out pink, frilly, fluffy things to sew onto onesies headbands and burp cloths. We had a pretty good turn-out, too, even though the weather was horrible.

Look how cute Mandy is... We are so excited for your little baby, Mandy! Hope she comes soon.

Fresh from Chicago...

I've been neglecting the blog, my email and my friends... MARSHIE WAS HERE! My cute brother and his beautiful wife came into town from Chicago. We love having them here... lots of Wii, late nights watching TV, tough workouts, pics in 'Milwaukee' and tons of laughter...plus Marshal makes a wonderful nanny!

Here are a few pictures...We love you, Marshal and Lindsey... thanks for the FUN!